New York State briefs

Friday

Aug 24, 2007 at 12:01 AM

Aug. 24, 2007

GateHouse News Service

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I have to admit we do need some new faces in politics. I don’t want to wish him well, but I don’t want to wish him anything bad, either.”
— James Breese, Henrietta town supervisor for 22 years, upon learning of an independent candidate joining the race for his job.

Dad pleads not guilty after son fatally mauled
BATH — The father of a 6-year-old boy who was killed by the family's pit bull pleaded not guilty Monday to a Class A misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
William D. Abbott, 33, of East William Street Extension, Bath, appeared before village Justice James Burns with his attorney, David Coddington. Abbott was silent was Coddington entered the plea and asked that the case be placed on a 45-day motion trial calendar.
Coddington later told reporters the 45-day period would be used to clarify several details of the case. "At this point, all I have is very little information," he said.
Abbott's son, Saben Jones-Abbott, reportedly was feeding the six-to-eight-month-old pit bull July 29 when the dog attacked him. His father found him unresponsive, and the boy was transported to Ira Davenport Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The pit bull was subsequently destroyed at the family's request.
District Attorney John Tunney called the boy's death "an eminently preventable accident."

"Green Acres," 2008 style
SALISBURY — City folk Rob and Nancy Carlson have been visiting Herkimer County for about five years, and last October, decided they would like to stay full-time and work for themselves.
The Carlsons, who had years of retail experience in their native Rochester area, bought a convenience store on Route 29A just outside of Dolgeville and hung a woodsy sign, crafted by local chainsaw artists, renaming the place The Country Store.
“We didn’t want to just hang up a plastic sign,” Rob said. “We wanted an Adirondack feel.”
The sign spells out the store’s name between carved wood bears.
The dining areas have rustic vistas, and a back deck for lunch has a mountain view. The Carlsons also sell gas, curios and deli services and are open seven days a week.
“We’d like to make this become a destination store, eventually,” Nancy said. “I’d like to see people come in specifically to buy a gift or to eat at the restaurant.”

A mellow yellow experience for tykes
WEBSTER — It's not every day that adults board a big yellow bus to go to school. But for the past two weeks that is just what they did.
In an effort to ease the fears of the school's newest riders, the Webster school district invited kindergartners and their parents to ride the bus together.
"We want the kids to get on the bus with a smile on their face instead of crying because they're scared," said bus driver Debbie Dippel, who runs the program.
The kids also visited five stations in a parking lot to learn how to properly cross the road, rules for riding and other safety tips.
Chloe Byerts, 4, who'll be a kindergartner at State Road Elementary School in the fall, was excited to be on her first bus ride. "I wanted the front seat so I can see everything," said Chloe.

Heliport makes first save
HORNELL — Less than 48 hours after the ribbon was cut, the new heliport at St. James Mercy Hospital saved its first life.
Dave Parker of Canisteo was having a relaxing Saturday morning until he went to the hospital with chest pains.
The doctor "hooked me up to the EKG machine, and before I knew it, there were doctors everywhere, nurses everywhere, popping me full of pills, poking me with needles," Parker said. "They were working like crazy. I didn't even know I was having a heart attack."
An X-ray of Parker's heart showed several blockages that needed to be operated on — fast.
Within 19 minutes of arriving at St. James, Parker was aboard a Mercy Flight helicopter bound for Rochester General Hospital, where he went straight into surgery.
Parker, who returned home Tuesday, is "feeling a whole lot better."

Professor badly hurt
ALFRED — An internationally known glass scientist from Alfred University remains in critical condition at Arnot Ogden Medical Center following a car accident Monday.
Alexis Clare, 47, a professor in the Inamori School of Engineering, continued treatment Thursday in the intensive care unit at Arnot Ogden Medical Center, and is listed in critical condition.
State police say Clare's vehicle ran a stop sign and collided with another. She has been at the university since 1989.

West Nile still poses a threat
ROCHESTER — With an unusually dry summer slowly winding down, prime season for West Nile virus is here, officials say.
Monroe County Department of Health spokesman John Ricci said the threat heightens at the end of August and early September.
“I don’t know that anyone completely understands why this year West Nile just seems to not have surfaced as it has in past years,” he said. “We don’t want people to become complacent and ignore it should the mosquito population pick up.”
Six reports of dead birds with the virus and 22 infected mosquito pools have been reported in New York as of Aug. 10. That’s drastically down from last year’s tally of 264 dead birds, 380 infected mosquito pools, and 23 infected humans and two horses.
Four of those human infections resulted in death.
In order for mosquitoes to lay eggs and find a comfortable habitat, there needs to be pooling of water. The area experienced its driest May ever, and the rest of the summer has been far behind normal as well.